Soils can be contaminated with organic contaminants such as petroleum hydrocarbons and may require remediation or treatment. Treatment objectives can include reduction in Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), reduction in toxicity, improvement in aesthetics and/or improvement in soil quality. Current approaches to remediation of petroleum impacted sites include excavation and disposal, biological treatment and thermal treatment. Although each of these approaches can be effective to reach treatment objectives, each has drawbacks including time needed for treatment, quality and final TPH content of treated soil, and cost. Improvements to these technologies such as increased bioremediation rates, lower TPH end points, lower energy needs or lower operating temperatures would result in cost savings and/or improved environmental stewardship.
There exists a need for a less costly, faster method and system for remediating hydrocarbon impacted soil without sacrificing effectiveness.